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The Louisiana State University at Alexandria is a public, co-educational university located in Alexandria, Louisiana. It currently serves a student population of approximately 3,100.

LSUA's history begins in 1959, when the Louisiana state legislature authorized the creation of a two-year, community-related college to serve residents of central Louisiana. The September of the very next year saw the enrollment of the college's first students. At first, the college only offered courses, and not degrees, but that soon changed and the school's first true associate's degree in nursing was begun in 1964. Thereafter, programs were added that led to additional associate-level degrees.

Beginning in the 1976, the Louisiana State University began to offer upper division courses on the campus, so that students could complete their first two years at LSUA and then could graduate with a bachelor's degree from LSU without having to re-locate to LSU's primary campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Although initial offerings were slim, this arrangement grew and prospered until the Spring semester of 2003.

LSUA became a fully-fledged university beginning in December 2002, when accreditation was given to the campus to offer their own bachelor-level degrees. Because of this, in Fall 2003, the college was organized into separate colleges in order to properly form a university structure. At the same time, LSUA began to offer bachelor's degrees in biology, general studies, liberal studies, and elementary education.

LSUA continues to develop new degree programs and will continue to expand its student enrollment and offerings into the next millennium.

There are thirteen endowed professorships at Louisiana State University at Alexandria, one of the most recent being the Roy and Vinita J. Martin Endowed Professorship in Mathematics and Science.

LSUA Chancellor Robert Cavanaugh said that philanthropist Roy O. Martin, Jr., was a major supporter of his institution: "When we started a foundation several years ago, Mr. Roy was a big supporter, not just with his money, but he donated his time. He knew where to go, where the money was." The foundation started with a few hundred thousand dollars, and now totals about $10 million in investments plus another $5 million to $6 million in assets, Cavanaugh told the Alexandria Daily Town Talk. In response to their generosity, LSUA named an oak tree on campus in honor of the couple. The Martins died in 2007.

• LSUA homepage

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